logo czasopisma

Articles

online-first

Memetic warfare as a threat to cognitive security. Legal approaches and non-legal safeguards in Poland

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36128/0zdzfz89
Submitted
29 January 2026
Published
01-09-2026

Abstract

This article examines the phenomenon of “memetic warfare” as a growing threat to cognitive security and democratic processes. The authors argue that memes – due to their virality, simplicity, and humorous nature – can be an effective tool for narrative manipulation, capable of shaping public opinion, deepening social polarization, and amplifying political and extremist propaganda. The development of artificial intelligence further facilitates the mass distribution of memes, increasing the scale and speed of their impact. At the same time, the balance between protection against disinformation and respect for freedom of speech and artistic creation remains a challenge, especially in the area of satire and parody. The article discusses potential legal and non-legal responses against memetic warfare, emphasizing the importance of targeting inauthentic behavior, strengthening social and cognitive resilience, narrative monitoring activities, and strategic communication. The study indicates that effective defense requires a multidimensional approach, encompassing regulations, technologies, psychological measures, and active social participation in shaping the information space.

References

  1. Banasik, Magdalena, Wiktoria Bocheńska, Wiktoria Dziubaczka and Aleksandra Bodziony. „Prawne aspekty walki z dezinformacją i fake newsami w przestrzeni internetowej.” Rocznik Administracji Publicznej 11, No. 1 (2025): 9-18. https://doi.org/10.4467/24497800RAP.25.001.21293.
    View in Google Scholar
  2. Bień-Węgłowska, Iwona. „Deepfake w świetle aktu w sprawie sztucznej inteligencji.” Prawo i Więź, No. 5(58) (2025): 151-169. https://doi.org/10.36128/4dr67e80.
    View in Google Scholar
  3. Chowdhury, Rumman. „AI-fuelled election campaigns are here – where are the rules?” Nature 628 (2024): 237. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00995-9.
    View in Google Scholar
  4. Christopher, Nilesh. „AI Modi started as a joke, but it could win him votes.” Rest of World. https://restofworld.org/2023/ai-voice-modi-singing-politics.
    View in Google Scholar
  5. Dawkins, Richard. The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
    View in Google Scholar
  6. Delcker, Janosch. „AI fakes, cyberattacks threaten German election.” Deutsche Welle. https://amp-dw-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.dw.com/en/from-ai-fakes-to-cyberattacks-threats-to-german-elections/a-70972702.
    View in Google Scholar
  7. Denisova, Anastasia. Internet memes and society: Social, cultural, and political contexts. New York: Routledge, 2019.
    View in Google Scholar
  8. Denniss, Emily and Rebecca Lindberg. „Social media and the spread of misinformation: infectious and a threat to public health.” Health Promotion International 40, No. 2 (2025): 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daaf023.
    View in Google Scholar
  9. Deutschlandfunk. „Die völkischen KI-Memes von ‚Wilhelm Kachel’.” https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/rechtsextreme-memes-kuenstliche-intelligenz-wilhelm-kachel-propaganda-100.html.
    View in Google Scholar
  10. Domalewska, Dorota. „Dezinformacja jako zagrożenie dla demokracji i regulacje prawne w zakresie jej przeciwdziałania w Polsce i wybranych krajach europejskich.” Politeja, No. 5(92) (2024): 359-379. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja. 21.2024.92.16.
    View in Google Scholar
  11. Dziedzic, Magdalena. „Przeciwdziałanie dezinformacji w kontekście wybranych regulacji Aktu o usługach cyfrowych oraz Aktu o Sztucznej Inteligencji.” Prawo i Więź, No. 6(53) (2024): 223-238. https://doi.org/10.36128/PRIW.VI53.1103.
    View in Google Scholar
  12. European Commission. Tackling online disinformation: a European Approach. Communication from the Commission, COM(2018) 236 final, 2018.
    View in Google Scholar
  13. Farid, Hany. „On Algorithmic Amplification.” Inference 6, No. 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.37282/991819.21.10.
    View in Google Scholar
  14. Giesea, Jeff. „It’s time to embrace memetic warfare.” Defence Strategic Communications 1 (2016): 67-75. https://doi.org/10.30966/2018.RIGA.1.4.
    View in Google Scholar
  15. Gray, Gavan. „Memetic Narratives in Information Warfare: The Danger of Viral Self-Contamination.” Hestia Review 1 (2021): 14-26.
    View in Google Scholar
  16. Hoyle, Aiden, Charlotte Wagnsson, Helma van den Berg, Bertjan Doosje and Martijn Kitzen. „Cognitive and Emotional Responses to Russian State-Sponsored Media Narratives in International Audiences.” Journal of Media Psychology 35, No. 6 (2023): 362-374. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000371.
    View in Google Scholar
  17. Jackson, Laura. „Revisions of Reality: The Three Warfares – China’s New Way of War.” In Information at War: From China’s Three Warfares to NATO’s Narratives, ed. Peter Pomerantsev, 5-15. London: The Legatum Institute, 2015.
    View in Google Scholar
  18. Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.
    View in Google Scholar
  19. Kania, Elsa. „The PLA’s Latest Strategic Thinking on the Three Warfares.” China Brief 16, No. 12 (2016): 10-14.
    View in Google Scholar
  20. Keen, Andrew. „‚Go Fuck Yourself’. On Putin’s Propaganda and the Week in Ukrainian Resistance.” Literary Hub. https://lithub.com/go-fuck-yourself-on-putins-propaganda-and-the-week-in-ukrainian-resistance.
    View in Google Scholar
  21. Kosmaty, Piotr. „Selected legal aspects of the crime of intelligence disinformation.” Internal Security Review 33 (2025): 327-345. https://doi.org/10.4467/20801335PBW. 25.034.22651.
    View in Google Scholar
  22. Ling, Peter. „One Does Not Simply Upload a Meme – Internet Memes and the Parody Exemption in Europe.” In Developments and Directions in Intellectual Property Law: 20 Years of The IPKat, ed. Hayleigh Bosher and Eleonora Rosati, 303-313. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192864475.003. 0019.
    View in Google Scholar
  23. Łabuz, Mateusz. „Deep fakes and the Artificial Intelligence Act – An important signal or a missed opportunity?” Policy & Internet 16, No. 4 (2024): 783-800. https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.406.
    View in Google Scholar
  24. Łabuz, Mateusz. „Memetic Warfare – sind wir bereit für dieses Schlachtfeld?” Tagesspiegel Background Digitalisierung. https://background.tagesspiegel.de/digitalisierung-und-ki/briefing/memetic-warfare-sind-wir-bereit-fuer-dieses-schlachtfeld.
    View in Google Scholar
  25. Łabuz, Mateusz and Christopher Nehring. „Information apocalypse or overblown fears – what AI mis- and disinformation is all about? Shifting away from technology toward human reactions.” Politics & Policy 52, No. 4 (2024): 874-891. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12617.
    View in Google Scholar
  26. Łukaszuk, Anna. „‚Whole of Government’ oraz ‚Whole of Society’ – skuteczne działania w budowaniu świadomości i odporności społeczeństwa na zagrożenia w przestrzeni informacyjnej – przeciwdziałanie dezinformacji w Polsce.” Zeszyty Prawnicze 23, No. 3 (2023): 163-184. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2023.23.3.08.
    View in Google Scholar
  27. Mahdawi, Arwa. „Humour over rumour? The world can learn a lot from Taiwan’s approach to fake news.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/17/humour-over-rumour-taiwan-fake-news.
    View in Google Scholar
  28. Maiberg, Emanuel. „AI Slop of Musk and Trump on TikTok Racks Up 700 Million Views.” 404 Media. https://www.404media.co/ai-slop-of-musk-and-trump-on-tiktok-racks-up-700-million-views.
    View in Google Scholar
  29. Maldita. „Memes, football and songs: how ‚Pop Fascism’ paves the way for disinformation.” https://maldita.es/investigaciones/20251013/memes-songs-disinformation-pop-fascism.
    View in Google Scholar
  30. Maroń, Grzegorz. „Fact-checking a wolność słowa.” Radca Prawny. Zeszyty Naukowe, No. 1(3) (2022): 83-104. https://doi.org/10.4467/23921943RP.22.007.15809.
    View in Google Scholar
  31. McCrow-Young, Ally and Mette Mortensen. „Countering spectacles of fear: Anonymous’ meme ‚war’ against ISIS.” European Journal of Cultural Studies 24, No. 4 (2021): 832-849. https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494211005060.
    View in Google Scholar
  32. Mejova, Yelena, Arthur Capozzi, Corrado Monti and Gianmarco De Francisci Morales. „Narratives of War: Ukrainian Memetic Warfare on Twitter.” Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 9, No. 2 (2025): 1-28. https://doi.org/10. 1145/3711037.
    View in Google Scholar
  33. Microsoft. Protecting Election 2024 from foreign malign influence: lessons learned help us anticipate the future. https://msblogs.thesourcemediaassets.com/sites/5/2023/11/MTAC-Report-2024-Election-Threat-Assessment-11082023-2-1.pdf.
    View in Google Scholar
  34. Microsoft. Same targets, new playbooks: East Asia threat actors employ unique methods. Redmond: Microsoft, 2024.
    View in Google Scholar
  35. Munk, Tine. Far-right extremism online. Beyond the fringe. London: Routledge, 2024.
    View in Google Scholar
  36. Munk, Tine. Memetic War. Online Resistance in Ukraine. London: Routledge, 2024.
    View in Google Scholar
  37. Munk, Tine. „Digital Defiance. Memetic Warfare and Civic Resistance.” European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 31 (2025): 501-528. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-025-09613-4.
    View in Google Scholar
  38. Munk, Tine. Expert interview conducted by the authors of the study on 15 January 2025.
    View in Google Scholar
  39. Muñoz, Katja. „The AI Election Year: How to Counter the Impact of Artificial Intelligence.” DGAP Memo 1 (2024): 1-4.
    View in Google Scholar
  40. Ördén, Hedvig. „The neuropolitical imaginaries of cognitive warfare.” Security Dialogue 55, No. 6 (2024): 607-624. https://doi.org/10.1177/09670106241253527.
    View in Google Scholar
  41. Paziuk, Andrii, Dmytro Lande, Elina Shnurko-Tabakova and Phillip Kingston. „Decoding manipulative narratives in cognitive warfare: a case study of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.” Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence 8 (2025): 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2025.1566022.
    View in Google Scholar
  42. Pennycook, Gordon, Tyrone Cannon and David Rand. „Prior exposure increases perceived accuracy of fake news.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 147, No. 12 (2018): 1865-1880. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000465.
    View in Google Scholar
  43. Petty, Richard and John Cacioppo. „The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 19 (1986): 123-205. https://doi.org/10. 1016/S0065-2601(08)60214-2.
    View in Google Scholar
  44. Qureshi, Waseem Ahmad. „Information Warfare, International Law, and the Changing Battlefield.” Fordham International Law Journal 43, No. 3 (2020): 901-938.
    View in Google Scholar
  45. Regina, Gitau. „Meme warfare: How Extremist Groups Weaponize Internet Humor to Normalize Radical Ideologies.” Center of Diplomatic Insight. https://centerfordiplomaticinsight.substack.com/p/meme-warfare-how-extremist-groups.
    View in Google Scholar
  46. Tajfel, Henri and John Turner. „An integrative theory of inter-group conflict.” In The Social Psychology of Inter-group Relations, ed. William G. Austin and Stephen Worchel, 33-47. Monterey: Brooks/Cole, 1979.
    View in Google Scholar
  47. Thompson, Stuart. „How Trump Is Using Fake Imagery to Attack Enemies and Rouse Supporters.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/21/business/media/trump-ai-truth-social-no-kings.html.
    View in Google Scholar
  48. Turner, John, Rupert Brown and Henri Tajfel. „Social comparison and group interest in ingroup favouritism.” European Journal of Social Psychology 9, No. 2 (1979): 187-204. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420090207.
    View in Google Scholar
  49. Wiesner, Andrea, Svenja Schäfer and Sophie Lecheler. „Navigating the gray areas of content moderation: Professional moderators’ perspectives on uncivil user comments and the role of (AI-based) technological tools.” new media & society 27, No. 3 (2025): 1215-1234. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231190901.
    View in Google Scholar
  50. Wiktorek, Mateusz. „Więzienie za mema – ŁĄCZY NAS KARNE z Krzysztofem Krupą i dr. Bohdanem Widłą.” Karne24. https://karne24.com/wiezienie-za-mema.
    View in Google Scholar
  51. Wiśniewski, Adam. „The European Court of Human Rights and Internet-Related Cases.” Białostockie Studia Prawnicze 26, No. 3 (2021): 109-133. https://doi.org/10. 15290/bsp.2021.26.03.06.
    View in Google Scholar
  52. Youvan, Douglas. „Memetic Cognition: The Compression of Complexity in the Human Psyche.” ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389278599_Memetic_Cognition_The_Compression_of_Complexity_in_the_Human_Psyche.
    View in Google Scholar

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.